


Wards and Boundary Lines

by LaughingStones



Series: Obligatory Fantasy AU (But Not the One You Were Expecting) [3]
Category: Motorcity
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Slash, unintentionally trading backstories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-23 14:29:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11991750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaughingStones/pseuds/LaughingStones
Summary: Mike stared at him. “That was terrifying, dude, it looked way worse than the other times I've seen. What was it, what went wrong?”Chuck shrugged Mike’s hands away. “Nothing. Nothing… important, don't worry about it.”“Chuck,” Mike said softly, and the mage looked over at him, biting his lip. “I'm supposed to protect you, both as my treasure and as my employer. I can't do that if I don't know what's going on."*Mike and Chuck have their first fight (which seems unfair when they're not even together).





	Wards and Boundary Lines

It was the end of a long day of spellcasting and fighting and struggling through the ruins of an old city, and Mike and Chuck had finally found a defensible place to camp for the night. The big room was actually intact, no cracks or holes in the walls or ceiling, the only entrance a half-shattered hallway.

While large, the room wasn't quite big enough for Mike to shift form, which did make him a bit uneasy. Being confined to his smaller shape in taverns and human places was one thing, he'd gotten used to that, but out here in the wild he preferred to have the full range of options--including grabbing Chuck and flying away, if all else failed. That was why Chuck was setting traps and wards on the hallway, though. They didn't really expect that the shadow-lurkers would have the attention span to track down prey that had escaped this thoroughly, but if they were wrong, the wards would give Mike time to properly defend Chuck.

Mike was pacing back and forth, watching the end of the hallway, keeping Chuck in his peripheral vision just because as a bodyguard that was his job. Chuck straightened, started to say something--

\--and jerked all over, making a choking noise.

Mike shot over just in time to catch him as he crumpled, lowering him carefully to the floor. Half-curled, Chuck twitched and shook, and Mike held him carefully, trying to keep his head from knocking against the cracked and broken tiles of the floor. Chuck was silent, making no gasp or cry, and from the spastic way his body moved Mike didn't think he was conscious.

Mike's heart was in his throat, choking him as it pounded and sped. There didn't seem to be anything he could do--Chuck was in danger and Mike was helpless. Changing was the last thing he should do right now, but his stupid instincts insisted that when his treasure was under threat, the best way to protect him was to curl a dragon’s worth of scaly, invulnerable bulk around him. Mike was pretty sure that wouldn't help even if he wasn't stuck in this narrow hallway, and a dragon didn't have dexterous little hands to hold someone injured. It was hard to stay in this soft, tiny form when Chuck was in trouble, though.

He couldn't even guess what had happened, if this was some kind of curse or spelltrap, or something completely different, maybe poison. Thinking about it made claws prickle to emerge from his fingertips, a quiet, panicky snarl rolling up from his chest. He tried to stop thinking about it, but it didn't work very well.

The fizz of magic under Chuck’s skin felt strange and thin to Mike, with a chilly edge he didn't like at all, nothing like the hot thrum that was normally there. Maybe that was proof it had been a magical trap. In which case Mike should probably carry him away, or would that be more dangerous for him? Unless it was too late already.

 _Too late_ , please all the gods, let it not be too late.

Mike sat there holding him for what seemed like an age, and had just decided to get up and carry him back to the room after all when the shudders faded away and Chuck went limp, breathing harshly in Mike’s arms. Mike took a deep breath and stroked shining golden hair out of his treasure’s face. His hand didn't shake at all, but it took a few minutes to get enough control to stop breathing curls of white smoke.

Chuck groaned and swore in a mumble.

“Hey,” Mike said quietly. “You okay?” He licked his aching lip and realized he'd almost bitten through it.

Chuck let out a tired, annoyed sigh, opened his eyes and twitched to see Mike’s face so close. Then he apparently realized he was in Mike’s lap and went pink, scrambling to get up. He was clumsy and shaky, so Mike helped him to his feet and kept a hand on his back, steadying him as Chuck shook his bangs back into place over his eyes.

“I, yeah, I, I'm fine,” he mumbled, and winced, putting a hand to his chest. “Did too much today, overdrew.”

Mike frowned even as relief swept through him at how calm Chuck was. Chuck knew this problem, didn't think it was anything to worry about somehow. If anything, he was embarrassed by Mike’s careful attention.

“That was backlash from being drained?” Mike asked. It wasn't that he knew a lot about mages, but he'd been around enough to know that didn't seem right.

“I--yeah,” Chuck said, sounding uncomfortable. “...Pretty much.”

“Pretty much?” Mike stared at him. “That was _terrifying_ , dude, it looked way worse than the other times I've seen. What was it, what went wrong?”

Chuck shrugged Mike’s hands away, put out a wavering hand to test the ward and winced. “Nothing. Nothing… important, don't worry about it.”

“Chuck,” Mike said softly, and the mage looked over at him, biting his lip. “I'm supposed to protect you, both as my treasure and as my employer. I can't do that if I don't know what's going on. Don't leave me in the dark, okay?”

Chuck threw up his hands, which made him wobble, so Mike reached out to steady him. Wincing again, Chuck rubbed at his chest, which was another difference; the other mages Mike had seen react to being drained had clutched at their heads.

“There's nothing you can do about it, Mikey! You can't protect me from my--from draining myself, so just--I'm used to this, okay, I'm fine. I should know to be careful, it's been like this for… years.”

Not ‘always’, but for years. The symptoms of draining backlash wouldn't change, though, which suggested something else was going on that had come into the picture later.

“Your chest,” Mike started, “is it--”

Chuck’s hands flew to his chest, not like it hurt but almost like he was trying to hide it, although he was fully dressed. “Nothing! You didn't see--everything's fine!”

Mike grabbed his wrist, trying to see if there was any mark on the cloth of his overshirt, blood leaking through or something. “See what?” he said sharply. “Are you hurt? You have to tell me, let me help!”

“Get off me!” Chuck said, jerking away, and stood there staring warily at Mike until he put his hands up, _okay, not touching you_. Chuck could be twitchy about physical contact. 

“I'm not hurt,” Chuck said, sighing, “It's not…” He shook his head, stepping back. “Forget it, let's just… eat dinner and move on, okay?”

Mike stared at him. As far as Mike could tell, he was serious, and he proved it by walking back down the hall and into the room they were camping in. Mike followed and kept staring. 

“I can't forget it, Chuck,” he pointed out, and Chuck paused in the middle of pulling food out of his pack to groan in frustration and press a hand to his face.

“I can't, I'm sorry!” Mike went on. “I thought you'd triggered some kind of curse or come across quick-acting poison or something! I know it wasn't just backlash from the power-drain because I've seen that before--I think it knocked you out for a moment, it was _bad!_ Are you--s-sick, is there something that makes your chest hurt when it--”

“Oh my god, I _knew_ this imprinting thing was going to be a problem!” Chuck snapped, and Mike flinched back, eyes wide. Chuck had never said anything like that before, not since the first time they'd discussed Chuck being treasure. It hurt.

“ _No_ , it's not just backlash,” Chuck growled at him. “No, I'm not sick, and no, I'm not going to tell you the details! It's _my_ business, not yours, and I don't want to talk about it! You need to leave it _alone_.” He shoved bread, goat jerky, and a chunk of cheese at Mike and stuffed his own mouth full as if to prevent conversation.

Mike ate quickly, mind spinning and jittering. Something was wrong with his treasure, something that hurt him, made him faint and twitch on the ground. It was Mike’s job to protect his treasure, even if it made him mad. Chuck didn't have any reason to be mad anyway, Mike only wanted to help.

When he finished eating, he pointed that out. “Chuck, I want to help, but I can't if I don't understand what's hurting you. I just want to--”

“ _Mike_ , there's nothing you can _do!_ ” Chuck said, waving his hands. “Just--drop it!”

Mike's lips tightened and he crossed his arms. “Right, because you'd obviously tell me if it _was_ something I could help with. Because in the past two months you've had a _great_ record with that. I'm not sure you've ever trusted someone enough to ask for help in your life!”

“Because trusting people is a terrible idea!” Chuck snapped.

“And here I am, not trusting you to tell me the truth!” Mike snapped back. “I hate that! It's an awful way to live! But if you never tell me when I can help, how I can I believe you when you say I can't?!”

“Because you _can't!_ ” Chuck said. “There is nothing you can do, and I would know!”

Mike kept his arms crossed and just looked at him, eyes narrow.

Chuck fisted his hands in his hair and made a furious noise. “Fine! You know what, _fine!_ Here!” He ripped off his overshirt, unlaced the neck of his shirt and hauled the opening down until Mike could see faint blue marks on the pale skin of his chest--runes, Mike realized with wide eyes.

It was difficult to focus on the blue lines instead of what was visible of Chuck’s chest. He'd always been shy of showing skin around Mike, so Mike had never seen him shirtless, or even this much of what was usually covered. Mike had assumed that was due to either a nudity taboo or… some accurate suspicion that Mike occasionally struggled with thoughts and desires that were completely inappropriate towards a treasure. Apparently there was a different reason entirely.

Chuck was glaring at him through his bangs, face flushed. “There, there's your explanation,” he said in a harsh voice. “Happy?”

“Are those water runes?” Mike asked, stomach twisting uneasily.

“You got it,” Chuck said shortly, lacing his shirt back up. “Because obviously it's a great idea to put those all over a guy who's fire-aligned.”

“Who did it?” Mike said, and he thought he'd done an excellent job of keeping the growl out of his voice.

Chuck gave him a sharp, startled look. “How do you know it wasn't me?”

“Uh, because it probably hurt a lot,” Mike said, “and you're an amazing mage, but I don't think anyone could hold their hand steady enough to form those runes if they were in that much pain.”

Chuck looked away, dragging his overshirt on again, and didn't answer for a long moment. “It was the mage I apprenticed to,” he said finally, in a low voice. “He… He thought he'd found a way to add a new alignment without having to spend decades tracking down ancient realignment methods for each individual element. He didn't want to test it on himself, though, because he didn't know for sure what would happen.”

Chuck gave Mike an edged smile. “Fortunately, he had a gullible apprentice on hand for the experiment. I was dumb enough to agree to it in the first place; I thought he must know what he was doing, and when it worked it would be an incredible breakthrough, a huge help to the whole magical community. Except it didn't work.”

Mike took a hard breath, fighting a weight in his chest.

“It took a couple of months to put the whole sequence on me,” Chuck said. “I had to heal after each rune. I asked for a longer break halfway through and he told me to stop whining.”

Mike didn't mean the low snarl to come out, but it was hard to cut off. One leg bouncing rapidly in agitation, he crossed his arms again to restrain the urge to claw at the broken tiles under him, which would be pointless and probably annoy Chuck.

At least by now Chuck had learned to stop flinching when Mike snarled or growled around him. He just watched Mike with a sardonic twist to his mouth and kept talking while Mike worked to get control of himself again.

“The really _funny_ part,” Chuck said, voice light and bitter, “is that I still thought he had some kind of concern for me. I kept thinking that until he finished the experiment, and not only did it not work, it backfired, and he was furious at having wasted his time and threw me out.”

“He-- _what?_ ” So much for getting control. Mike’s claws were trying to come out, his voice was a lot deeper than it ought to be, and a thick plume of smoke blew out of his mouth as he spoke. Fire was creeping up the back of his throat, and it took conscious effort to swallow it back. He was distantly aware that he hadn't been this angry in a very long time, but mainly he was occupied with the intense urge to track down Chuck’s ex-master and turn him into a charred mark on the ground.

“Mike!” Chuck said in a squeak. “Chill, there is _not_ enough room in here to transform, you'll crush me!”

“I'm _not_ \--” Mike started, and swallowed, pushing the rumble and thunder of his growl away again. “I'm not going to transform,” he said firmly, forcing claws and fangs and fire to subside. He had to focus on the way Chuck was leaning away from him, the unnerved edge to his voice, to control it, but he did it. His voice was still deeper and rougher than usual when he spoke, but he was also fighting down rage, and so long as he wasn't scaring Chuck anymore he didn't really care.

“Where is he?” he asked as calmly as possible.

Chuck pulled back his bangs to stare, then narrowed his eyes at Mike. “Why?”

“Because I think someone should go and have a _talk_ with him about proper care of an apprentice,” Mike said.

Chuck’s eyes widened, and he took a minute to answer. “I… what? No, come on, that's not--that's ridiculous, it's not--that important, it's just--”

Mike absolutely couldn't hold back the growl. “He _hurt_ you! In a way that doesn't heal! It was his duty to _protect_ you, not use you to experiment on!”

Cheeks flushing faintly, Chuck snorted, brushing his bangs back into place. “Yeah, well, my stupid fault for believing him.”

“ _No_ ,” Mike growled, “it's not.”

“He was a bastard, I shouldn't have trusted him,” Chuck said.

“He was your _master!_ ” Mike said. “That's like your family, an elder, a teacher! You were _supposed_ to trust him! You should’ve been able to. When he agreed to teach you, to have you live with him as a fledgling under his protection, he _knew_ his duties. He knew he was meant to take care of you. That he betrayed your trust--” Mike had to stop, swallowing. “That wasn't your fault.”

Chuck opened his mouth, closed it again, then turned and busied himself packing the food away for a few minutes. When he finished, he stayed hunched over his pack, staring into it.

“I should’ve run,” he said. “I shouldn't have agreed, I should have run away before letting him do that.”

Mike rubbed his hands over his face. “You couldn't have known,” he said. “But… I hear you, yeah. I know the feeling.”

Chuck’s head jerked around to face him. “You--you do? Oh, because of the war before you left home?”

Mike drew a deep breath and stood up, restless. “No,” he said. Taking a few steps away, he gathered himself. “There was this man, a minor human lord, and I believed him when he said he wanted to bring peace between humans and dragons.” Mike hunched his shoulders and started pacing. “I trusted him, and did what he asked me to help his plans along, and it took me way longer than it should’ve to realize that he didn't care about stopping the fighting. He was just using me to build more power. He… I was helping make things _worse_.” He stopped short, swallowing as the sick shame slid through him, the aching loss at Kane’s betrayal.

“If you guys were at war, why wasn't he afraid of you?” Chuck asked.

“Oh, I was in disguise as a human, a traveler,” Mike said, waving a hand. “We met on the road through a wood when he was out hunting; he didn't know.” He stopped, blinking. “Uh. I _thought_ he didn't know. But now that I think about it, when he invited me to stay in his home for a while, he did have a mage at his side kind of… all the time, for the first few days. Huh.” Mike sighed, running a hand through his hair, and started moving again. “He probably figured it out right away. He just pretended to be fooled. And I didn't have a clue.”

“So… you went back to the home of a man you'd just met, to stay with him?” Chuck said. “ _Why?_ ”

Mike shrugged. “I wanted to understand humans. It kind of seemed like they were all crazy, and I wanted to know if they were or if--if maybe someone could talk to them, reason with them. And I mean, I thought my disguise was perfect, it wasn't like there was any danger.” He gave Chuck an ironic smile and Chuck sighed at him.

“Yeah, I bet he had you figured out in two sentences. Actually, that's kind of arrogant, that he knew you were an enemy and still invited you into his home, even with a mage around for protection. Although… I guess it didn't take _me_ long to figure out you were harmless.” Chuck huffed. “Even if you're kind of annoying sometimes--sit _down_ already, you're making me tireder.”

Mike cooperatively dropped to the floor again. “I was doing my best to be friendly and act human,” he said, shrugging one shoulder. “And he was… being really nice to me.” His voice lowered. “He acted like he _liked_ me, like--if my mother’d had brothers, they would’ve treated me like that.”

“Oh,” Chuck said quietly. He shifted over next to Mike and put an awkward hand on Mike’s shoulder. Mike blinked and smiled a bit, remembered pain mingling with startled warmth.

“Wow, that's--what a dick,” Chuck said.

“Yeah,” Mike sighed, and was quiet a minute. “The worst part is,” he said, voice still low as his shoulders pulled in, “I don't know if any of it was real. Kane--it really seemed like he cared about me, after a few weeks. And I can't decide which is worse; to think that he never cared for me at all, or that he did, that he liked me even though I was a dragon, and he tricked me and used me like that anyway.”

“He probably did,” Chuck said, cautiously sliding that hand across Mike's back until his arm was around Mike's shoulders. “I can't really imagine anyone spending a lot of time with you and not liking you, Mikey. You're pretty likeable.”

Mike smiled a little and leaned into him, enjoying the slim solidity of him. “Thanks,” he murmured.

Chuck shrugged uncomfortably. “Anyway, you obviously figured it out eventually. The whole thing seems pretty deliberate on his part, building your trust to get you to go along with him. You can't blame yourself for falling for it.”

Mike twitched a shoulder in ambiguous disagreement. “He did it deliberately, but… I was the one who didn't pay attention, didn't ask questions. I went along blindly and didn't think about other explanations for the things he had me do.”

“Okay, so that was your mistake,” Chuck said. “Next time you'll know better, right?”

Mike looked at him, the pale, freckled face half hidden behind thick gold bangs, the mobile, clever mouth Mike tried not to stare at too often. It sounded unreasonable--just let go and move on with what you learned--but he knew it wasn't.

“Yeah,” he said. “I will.”

Silence fell for a bit, less strained than it had been before. 

“I did try to fix things when I broke away from him,” Mike said, “undo some of the stuff he had me do. I don't know how much good it did. I kind of holed up in my lair for a few months after that, and I didn't really check around to see what the human political situation was like before I left.”

“You left,” Chuck said slowly. “You left your lair. That's--did you have a hoard?”

Mike blinked at him. “Yeah… Not a very large one, because I'm pretty young, and also, y’know, war. Hard to find time to go searching for gems and gold and stuff when that's going on.”

“But you left your hoard behind?”

Mike's eyes widened. “What? No! I brought most of it with me!”

Chuck’s mouth dropped open and he was still for a moment before turning wildly to Mike’s pack, dropping his arm from Mike’s shoulders. “Oh my _god_ , no _wonder_ your pack is so heavy! It's full of gold and stuff!”

“I wouldn't say it's _full_ ,” Mike corrected, pleased by the assumption. He tried to be grateful that the kind-of hug had lasted as long as it did, instead of mourning that it had stopped.

Chuck snorted and shook his head. Mike watched him out of the corner of his eye for a moment, thinking.

“So,” he said. “Will you tell me where to find the mage who did that to you?”

Chuck pawed back his bangs to give Mike a startled look that rapidly turned dubious. “So you can do what, exactly?”

Mike bared his human-blunt teeth in a not very human snarl. “Kill him.”

Chuck’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “Seriously?”

“He hurt you,” Mike said. “You're precious, you shouldn't be hurt. I wasn't there to protect you, so this is all I can do.”

Chuck’s cheeks turned a faint pink and he looked away, letting his bangs fall back into place. “I thought you didn't like fighting and killing people, though.”

Mike twitched as that hit home. “I don't,” he admitted, stomach twisting as he actually thought about it, the protective rage that might allow him to do it ebbing away. “But he _hurt_ you, I don't--that can't happen.”

“It's not going to happen again, Mike,” Chuck pointed out. “It's long past. Just like your trouble with Kane. He's not a threat to me now. Just leave it be.”

Mike pinched his lips, reluctant.

“Besides,” Chuck continued, “the way you talk about it, I sound like your favorite vase that someone cracked. If it's that big a deal, maybe…” His voice lowered. “Maybe you should go look for a treasure that's not broken.”

Staring at him in dismay, Mike said, too loudly, “You're not broken!”

Chuck huffed like he was avoiding the point on purpose and said, “Flawed, whatever! That doesn't bother you, you're not even tempted to change your mind?” He stood up like he needed an excuse to avoid Mike's eyes and got his blanket out of his pack, spreading it out on a section of floor that was mostly bare dirt.

Mike watched him, too many thoughts going through his head to speak any of them at first. He kept forgetting that Chuck didn't really understand the treasure thing--no surprise, humans probably couldn't, since it didn't happen to them--and therefore couldn't grasp that Mike changing his mind wasn't really possible. The closest Mike could get was to decide that, having found a particular treasure, he couldn't afford to keep it. With Chuck, it felt more like he couldn't stay away--unless Chuck wanted him to, because if Mike kept following him at that point, he'd be putting stress on his own treasure, which was a stupid thing to do.

“How are you flawed?” he said after a pause that was probably too long, judging by the way Chuck’s shoulders were hunched now as he sat on his blanket.

Chuck’s mouth opened and hung there a moment before he found words. “I mean, if I overdraw, I go into a fit and faint. That sounds like a pretty major flaw to me.”

“I think it sounds more like an injury,” Mike said. “Something that hurts you and doesn't stop, and doesn't heal.” He shrugged one shoulder. “That's the only part that bothers me, is that it hurts you and I can't protect you from it.”

“Hmm,” Chuck said.

“Why _does_ it react like that when you overdraw?” Mike asked. “Is there any way to fix it?” Then he stopped, eyes widening. “ _That's_ why you're trying to get aligned with water! So the water runes will stop reacting badly with your fire alignment!”

“Yeah,” Chuck said, sounding startled, which wasn't really fair because it seemed pretty obvious. Mike was a mercenary, not an idiot. “Yeah, and of course you can't go straight from fire to water because the two will fight each other, which is why I had to get air first. Still don't know if I'll have to pick up stone or if air will mediate enough.” 

“Wow,” Mike said. “That's really cool.”

Chuck dropped his head, smiling a little. “And the runes react like that because when my reserves get low enough, the runes kick in and try to feed me power, which I can't use because it's the _opposite_ of my native alignment, and it kind of--I don't know, I sort of just--shut down for a minute. Go into a fit, like you saw.”

“Yeah,” Mike said. “It was scary.”

“Normally I pace myself better,” Chuck said. “I should’ve known not to work that finding spell three times in one day, it takes a lot.”

“Is there anything I could do to help?” Mike asked. “To like, keep you from overdrawing, or something?”

Chuck’s lips pressed together. “Like I said before,” he said, “no.” He tilted his head in a pointed way at Mike, who abruptly got the uneasy feeling he'd misstepped.

“Right,” he said, a little sheepish. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“Forgot,” Chuck said flatly. “Sure, why not. Why bother listening to me about stuff that has to do with me when you obviously know better.”

Mike frowned for a second, because come on, that wasn't really fair, and then the bitter tone of Chuck’s voice hit home and Mike’s eyes widened. Yes, Chuck was talking to Mike, but that tone wasn't just about Mike. Chuck’s master hadn't listened to him, even when Chuck had asked not for the experiment to _stop_ but for a break, a rest from the pain. His master had treated him like his opinion and his desires didn't matter even when it was about his own body, the runes being burned permanently into his skin. He'd pushed on with his own agenda, ignoring Chuck.

And Mike had been pushing hard when he was looking for the answer to what was wrong with Chuck, desperate to be sure he was really okay, he'd pushed and he hadn't listened and it felt the same, to Chuck. It didn't matter that Mike had been scared for him, or that he'd meant well, he'd still been pushy and demanding. The bitterness in Chuck’s voice wasn't misplaced, it was aimed at Mike for good reason.

No wonder he'd said that, about ‘this imprinting thing’ being a problem. Chuck had left his master, but Mike knew how edgy he was around anyone who might try to push him around. How terrifying the idea must be to him of having a dragon try to control him, someone so powerful he'd be lucky to ever escape.

Mike swallowed hard as a chill settled in his stomach. He'd known he was pushing, but he'd thought it was justified. He hadn't realized that it didn't matter--either way he was crossing a line he didn't know was there, that he might not be able to return from.

“I'm sorry,” he said, feeling small and stupid.

Chuck’s head jerked up, so at least he was listening.

“I'm really sorry, you're right, I didn't--I should've--” He took a breath and tried again. “I shouldn't have pushed you like that. I should have listened to you, and trusted that you--you've taken care of yourself for a while, you obviously aren't going to let yourself--let anything really bad h-happen, you, you'll be okay--right?” He gave Chuck an uncertain smile, hoping it didn't look as desperate as he felt at the thought of Chuck injured or killed.

“Yeah,” Chuck said after a moment. “I'll be fine. Mike, it's not even that dangerous, it's not like it really hurts me or anything. It--I would've _said_ something if it was possible for it to kill me or something, I wouldn't be so casual about it.”

“Okay,” Mike said thinly, nodding. “It _looks_ dangerous,” he couldn't help adding, “it looked really bad, you just--falling over twitching like that, I thought--” He stopped himself, because that wasn't the point, the point was that he'd done something wrong and needed to not do it again.

“You thought I was really in trouble,” Chuck said, sounding thoughtful. “You thought--my life was in danger?”

Mike shrugged, not looking at him. “Maybe. I didn't know.”

Chuck tipped his head to one side. “You were freaking out over it. I guess… I keep forgetting I'm not just a shiny trinket to you. It's a lot more serious than that.”

Mike lifted his head to stare. “A _trinket?_ Wha--Chuck, what part of _precious_ do you have trouble understanding? Of _course_ it's serious, living treasure is the most important kind you can have!”

“Living things die, though,” Chuck pointed out, like it was an academic point of interest and not something Mike spent a good deal of time refusing to think about.

“But you're a mage, you'll live a century or two, probably,” Mike said, and stood up to strip his armor off, badly needing something else to occupy him.

Chuck snorted. “Yeah, and you're a _dragon_ , you'll live to--”

“Stop,” Mike said, hands going nerveless on the buckle he was undoing. “Please stop.”

Chuck’s mouth hung open for a moment, then closed. “Okay!” he said, sounding startled. “Okay.” He hesitated. “That really bothers you, huh,” he said more gently.

Mike reached up and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “Yes. It does.”

“Okay,” Chuck said again. “I'll leave it be.”

Mike dropped his hands and swallowed, ashamed all over again. “I'm sorry I didn't leave it. I shouldn't have demanded answers. Next time I'll listen to you.”

“Thank you,” Chuck mumbled awkwardly. “Um. I guess… I need to remember what this whole treasure thing means to you. I'll make sure to… be more clear about, um, if I'm actually hurting or in trouble or whatever. So you'll know you can trust what I'm saying.”

“Thank you,” Mike sighed, the knot of his stomach loosening in relief. He took his armor off, pulled his blanket out and spread it on the floor between Chuck and the door to the hall. Chuck pulled his overshirt off again and lay down wrapped in his blanket.

Mike sat down on his own blanket to tend his armor, oiling the leather and checking it over. “Would you,” he started without really thinking about it, and caught himself too late as Chuck looked up, waiting for the rest. “Uh. Would you… be willing to… show me the runes, at some point?” he finished sheepishly.

“Uh!” Chuck squeaked, pulling his blanket a little tighter around him. “Um. Why?”

“You don't have to,” Mike said.

“I know,” Chuck said. “That's not what I asked, Mikey.”

Mike ducked his head, warmth curling through him at the nickname. Chuck really had forgiven him, if he was calling him that.

“Because…” he stopped, trying to find the words. “I want to know what they look like on you. They're part of you, and you're my treasure, and--I want to see.” After a moment, he added, “The ones I saw looked very decorative, although I guess you disagree.”

Chuck’s mouth fell open and he sounded slightly strangled when he said, “Well, _yeah_ , because I'm kind of preoccupied with the incredible inconvenience!”

“Sure,” Mike said, “that makes sense! But you're going to fix the inconvenience, and then maybe they'll even be helpful! And until then, I think they're pretty.”

Chuck snorted. “Pretty, oh yeah, especially when they draw power and start glowing, I bet you'd love that, except for the part where I fall down.”

Mike blinked and had to consciously close his mouth. “They glow?”

Chuck snorted again and snickered, shaking his head. “You're predictable, you know that?”

“Seriously? I--I didn't realize they glowed,” Mike said.

“Well, I've only had the one fit since hiring you, and apparently my clothes are thick enough to hide it. They glow blue,” Chuck added. “It's creepy looking, but I bet you wouldn't care because they're shiny.”

Mike opened his mouth and closed it again, thinking of blue shining runes against the milk-pale skin of Chuck’s chest.

Chuck shook his head, and Mike judiciously kept his mouth shut. It was probably rude to praise the marks his master had left on him. Mike just really wanted to see; it made him itch to know that his treasure had something so unique and intriguing that he hadn't seen.

After a little while, Chuck said, “You really carry your hoard in your pack?”

“Most of it, what would fit,” Mike says. There had been a few pieces he had to leave behind that he still missed, a large blue-green stone with winding holes running all through it and a crystal geode about the size of a human’s head.

“Wow,” Chuck said.

Mike hesitated. “I can--I can show it to you, if you want,” he said, his face warming. It wasn't inappropriate, he told himself. Chuck wasn't a dragon, so it wasn't like he would take it for a courting gambit. No matter how intimate it felt, it was--it was fine.

Chuck’s jaw dropped and he leaned up on his elbows. “You--seriously? I thought a dragon’s hoard was really private, you wouldn't want anyone to see it.”

“Well, I mean, usually, yeah,” Mike said awkwardly, setting down the last piece of leather armor, a bracer. “But it's different with treasure. I mean, it'd be silly to keep some of your treasures secret from another one. So, I can show it to _you_ , if you want to see it.” It was stupid to be blushing over this, but he couldn't seem to stop.

Chuck’s head tilted slowly and he pulled back his bangs to squint thoughtfully at Mike. The scrutiny didn't help with Mike’s blush. 

“Hmm,” he said after a moment. “Tempting, but I'm guessing that would take a while, and after the runes act up I need a lot of sleep. Later, maybe?”

Mike nodded gladly. “Yeah, okay. Later, definitely. Um, sleep well.”

Chuck gave him an amused look. “Thanks. You too, when you get there.”

Mike nodded again, deciding not to mention that he wasn’t about to close his eyes, wards or not, when Chuck was recovering from all that and needed to be kept safe even more than usual. Tomorrow they'd stop for a noon break and Mike could catch an hour or two of sleep while Chuck was awake. That would be plenty.

Chuck lay down again and pulled a corner of blanket over his face to block the glow from the mage light hanging well above them.

Now that Chuck couldn't see, Mike took the opportunity to rub his hands over his face and let out a long, silent breath. He had to get control of himself. Chuck was treasure, it was completely inappropriate to feel this way about him. Concern, yes, admiration and attachment and deep, abiding affection, yes, but this heat, this desire that crept through Mike sometimes, that was out of place and kind of wrong.

Chuck had some kind of fear of anyone who would proposition him, according to what Mike had seen in the inns and taverns they'd passed through. It seemed unfair, when Chuck was so wary of people in the first place, to get his trust this way, to assure him he was safe and be wanting him all the time, deceiving him even if Mike didn't mean to.

Not to mention it was weirdly kinky, for Mike to want his treasure that way. He blushed when he thought about having to explain himself to anyone in his old flight.

He had to control himself, ignore the desire. He'd look after Chuck and protect him properly, and Chuck wouldn't be scared of him for any of the possible reasons, and everything would be okay.

...It'd be a lot _more_ okay once overdrawing didn't make his runes flare up and knock him out. For the first time, Mike completely sympathized with how driven Chuck had been on his quest to gain more alignments. The sooner he got that water alignment, the better.

And maybe once Chuck didn't want him around anymore, Mike _would_ go find the mage he'd apprenticed to. Just to have a talk with him about the importance of listening, and not betraying the people who trust you.

For now, though, Mike had a treasure to guard. He got up and went to keep watch.


End file.
